Stay Connected In Your Benz
– via PC Magazine – LAS VEGAS
Mercedes-Benz on Tuesday expanded its in-vehicle Internet offerings by incoporating services like Facebook, Yelp, and Google into the dashboard via a service dubbed mbrace2.
“It works seamlessly, automatically, and 24-7. I admit that [it] won’t change the world, but it is a very real improvement in terms of independence,” Dr. Dieter Zetsche, head of Mercedes-Benz Cars, said in a keynote speech here at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
Powered by Hughes Telematics, mbrace2 is the second-generation of Mercedes-Benz’s cloud-based services. Updates will be provided over-the-air, and mbrace2 works with iOS and Android devices. With it, you can check your Facebook updates, get information from Google, hear about the latest news, and tap into services provided by a real-time concierge service.
Mbrace 2 launches with the MY13 SL-Class (click below) in the spring and will be standard in most MY13 passenger vehicles.
New Mercedes SL
Given that many car manufacturers have already incorporated apps like Facebook into their vehicles, Zetsche acknowledged that “seamless access is nice, but … that’s just what keeps you in the game today.”
“We want to be ahead of it,” he said. “In fact, our customers expect nothing less. That’s why chapter two in our delcaration of independence is freedom of speech. More precisely, the freedom of not just talking to your car, but by being understood by it.”
To that end, Mercedes showed off a concept known as Dynamic & Intuitive Control Experience (DICE). In a video demo, a driver is seen kicking back in a spaceship-like vehicle, with information about surrounding locations shown on the windshield. Information is accessed by tapping the dashboard.
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